linking matters

Music and hunger online both receive key media attn

Music and hunger online both receive key media attn

Music and hunger online both receive key media attn

The New York Times has published a focus on Hoongle, a search engine powered by Google and poised to solve world hunger.

Undergraduate students at the University of Richmond launched the new search engine in September last year, and have so far donated 8.5 million grains of rice to those who need it most.

The three students, Vladimir Hruda, David Whitehead and Salmaan Ayaz, have set up Hoongle.org to maximise the opportunities offered by Fill the Cup, a UN World Food programme.

Fill the Cup delivers food to schools across the world.

Every time a user searches through Hoongle instead of the users' normal search site, the website earns revenue, and a part of that then goes to pay for rice to be distributed by the Fill the Cup campaign.

Speaking to the New York Times, Mr Ayaz said: "Typically charity requires donation... But we're creating the value that we're donating. There's no cost to us, or anyone, for doing this.

"We aren't asking anyone to do anything extra or anything that they aren't already doing."

Traffic through the website has been roughly doubling every two to three weeks, the creators have said, and they are now considering expansion plans such as making a new site to be compatible with the iPhone.

For more information, click here

Users simply interested in listening to music online, however, are also discovering they have a growing number of options for doing so as Spotify announced recently that it has signed a deal with British artists.

Spotify.com was featured in the London Times last week after it signed a contract with British musicians despite the mighty YouTube failing to do so.

The deal came from the Performing Rights Society (PRS), which is still in talks with YouTube about the websites' commitment to paying artists which feature on the site.

Recent start-up Spotify, however, has already confirmed it will be offer music for free yet still paying artists because it will play adverts on the service, making the service attractive to all parties involved.

The PRS is a body involved with collecting the royalties owed to British artists once a song written by them has been played online, on radio or even live at a concert.

Speaking to the Times about YouTube's refusal to pay for the songs it plays online, Guy Chambers, the songwriter known for penning Robbie Williams' hit Angels, said: "YouTube are in effect asking songwriters to give away their songs for nothing.

"Google is manipulating the PRS for music dispute in a deeply cynical way; to confuse the public into believing that the industry is outdated and behaving in a protectionist manner. Nothing could be further from the truth."

For more information on Spotify, click here

ADNFCR-803-ID-19122813-ADNFCR© Adfero Ltd


Music and hunger online both receive key media attn

Content

Syndicate

Syndicate content

Latest

Improve your link popularity...

...join thousands of website owners, marketing professionals and SEOs who get free email messages with practical know-how and inside tips on improving link popularity...

...enter your email address


We will never pass on your address and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Recent comments

News

Sedate approach earns business owner positive karma

Sedate approach earns business owner positive karma

Trash means cash

Trash means cash

The business of education

The business of education

Design expert shares opinions on new innovations

Design expert shares opinions on new innovations

Mom-and-pop shops urged to stand out from the crowd

Mom-and-pop shops urged to stand out from the crowd

User login